Leafs topple Governors State behind two career highs

Cotton, Ostrowski both reach season-best scoring totals before halftime in win
GOSHEN, Ind. — Patryck Ostrowski and Ben Cotton set new career scoring highs, Demarkus Stuckey cinched his first double-double with an insurance basket in the final seconds and Alhassan Barrie sealed the win at the foul line as Goshen College topped Governors State University 83-79 in men’s basketball Monday at Gunden Gymnasium.
Ostrowski scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and Cotton connected on five 3-pointers to finish with 17 points for the Maple Leafs (2-11). Each player reached double figures before halftime, scoring 13 and 12 respectively at the break as Governors State led 44-42.
Stuckey set a new season high with 10 rebounds and came one shy of his best Maple Leaf marks with 7 assists and 4 steals. While his takeaway total led all players, more than half of his scoring came in the final 7 minutes. Barrie and Colton Noel each scored 10 points to leave 5 Maple Leafs in double figures.
Shane Maple paced Governors State (7-9) with 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting, including 24 of his team’s 35 points in the second half. Johnathan Boatright added a double-double of his own with 16 points and 10 assists.
The Maple Leafs shot 58.6 percent (17-for-29) from the floor in the second half while outrebounding the Jaguars 21-12. Governors State had taken the halftime lead behind 16-of-34 (47.1 percent) shooting over the opening 20 minutes.
Goshen led once in the first half, at 23-22 on a Cotton triple with 8:49 remaining, and took its first lead of the second half on an Ostrowski bucket to cap a 6-0 run at 48-47. The Jaguars responded quickly, though, and led by as many as five with as little as 3:30 left.
Barrie scored at the 3:27 mark to bring Goshen back within 77-74 before Cotton’s 3-pointer tied the score with 2:53 to go. Barrie picked off a pass on the ensuing possession, draining a free throw for a 78-77 lead with 2:26 on the clock.
The following three possessions proved fruitless, setting the stage for Stuckey to run the lead out to 80-77 with 1:09 remaining. Boatright countered with his fifth basket of the night, returning the margin to 1 with 48.6 seconds to play.
With an 18-second difference between the game and shot clocks, Governors State opted to defend rather than foul as the Maple Leafs brought the ball into the frontcourt. Eli Gingerich dribbled near midcourt for more than 15 seconds, ultimately finding Stuckey for another score after running the shot clock down to 1.
Trailing 82-79, Governors State’s try for a game-tying 3-pointer missed wide on the following possession; Barrie gathered the rebound and hit his free throw to reach double figures and make it a two-possession game.
GC’s 4-point winning margin was its largest lead of the night.
Maple and Boatright finished with 3 assists apiece to lead GSU and Boatright led the team with 3 steals; Barrie recorded 3 takeaways for the Maple Leafs.
The Maple Leafs return to the court in less than 48 hours for an exhibition game at Davenport University, set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.